Dolby Atmos Upmixing on the Streaming Services (Unacceptable!)

[popshop]

LOVE - FOREVER CHANGES. Alone Again Or, A House Is Not A Motel, The Red Telephone, Maybe the People Would Be.... have been upmixed. Same mixes as the existing stereo mixes with hard-panned acoustic guitar in right and drums in left. Not silent, but almost silent center channel with verb. Elements remain on their side, and then have more verb in the back and top on that same side. If you haven't heard it in a while, Forever Changes was mixed mostly hard-panned, with drums and/or vocals fully on one side. So, it works as a weird fake upmix more than a more traditional stereo mix would, I guess? Ugh, it's super disappointing.
My Little Red Book, 7 and 7 Is, and Always See Your Face, also upmixed.

 

[popshop]

I spent this morning on the phone with Apple Music support, and they said that Dolby does the content for Spatial Audio.
Seems this is the spot to send a message: Dolby Support
Trying to find the right person/group/contact has been difficult.

 

[humprof]

I spent this morning on the phone with Apple Music support, and they said that Dolby does the content for Spatial Audio.

Meaning...Dolby certifies Apple's Spatial Audio content (i.e., is tasked with making sure it meets Dolby technical standards, isn't upmixed, etc.)?

 

[popshop]

It was a phone conversation, so I don't remember his exact words. But to paraphrase he said that Dolby was in charge of getting the music on Apple. He gave me the # to Dolby Atmos Content Creation and Distribution, but of course he didn't actually do that. He gave me the general # to Dolby Labs, who of course can't connect you to a department, they need a person's first and last name.

 

[popshop]

I spent more time on the phone with two very nice people from Apple.
They understand that this is a content issue for them, and that having fake mixes lowers the standard for Spatial Audio. The supervisor sent the complaint up the chain.
I'm not sure who to talk to at Dolby Labs. This form seems the current best place: Email Us - Dolby Atmos - Dolby Professional

 

[humprof]

I spent this morning on the phone with Apple Music support, and they said that Dolby does the content for Spatial Audio.
Seems this is the spot to send a message: Dolby Support
Trying to find the right person/group/contact has been difficult.

Great stuff, @popshop.

Okay, so to reiterate/collate, here are the 3 relevant contact pages:

Dolby:
https://professional.dolby.com/contact-us/email-us/email-us-dolby-atmos
Warner Music (I couldn't get the links in posts 1 & 4 of this thread to work, but I think this one does):
https://www.wmg.com/contact
Apple Music:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/apple-music.html

 

[fredblue]

"Surrounded"..!?

yeah, right.. Surrounded by Upmixes!!

you don't even need to listen to it, one look at the waveforms tells you this garbage is bullshit fakery

 

[fredblue]

(please can we leave this here for now, for illustrative purposes? i know there are issues but i wouldn't ask if i didn't think it was important)

Dream Theater "Surrounded" (HAHAHA..!!)

if you look at the channels you can tell immediately this is an upmix, if you pay particular attention to Channels 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 & 12 (which correlate to Left Surround, Right Surround, Left Rear Surround, Right Rear Surround, Left Front Height, Right Front Height, Left Rear Height and Right Rear Height) they are essentially the same thing only with varying degrees of reverb, EQ and level shifting..!!

this has gone too far.
Warners are literally flooding Apple's Spatial Audio with poor quality upmixes masquerading as Dolby Atmos.

it has to stop. now.

i may be cutting my nose off
to spite my face but i feel so strongly over this, i am so disappointed, no i am incensed, i will cancel my subscription if this isn't nipped in the bud now.

 

[Bretho72]

(please can we leave this here for now, for illustrative purposes? i know there are issues but i wouldn't ask if i didn't think it was important)

View attachment 83433

Dream Theater "Surrounded" (HAHAHA..!!)

if you look at the channels you can tell immediately this is an upmix, if you pay particular attention to Channels 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 & 12 (which correlate to Left Surround, Right Surround, Left Rear Surround, Right Rear Surround, Left Front Height, Right Front Height, Left Rear Height and Right Rear Height) they are essentially the same thing only with varying degrees of reverb, EQ and level shifting..!!

this has gone too far.
Warners are literally flooding Apple's Spatial Audio with poor quality upmixes masquerading as Dolby Atmos.

it has to stop. now.

i may be cutting my nose off
to spite my face but i feel so strongly over this, i am so disappointed, no i am incensed, i will cancel my subscription if this isn't nipped in the bud now.

Yes I’m completely with you. The only good Atmos albums on Apple are the ones that come directly from a physical disc.
I’m actually starting to listen to my own 2 channel music upmixed with Dolby surround with centre spread on and it sounds much, much better than the upmixed Apple tracks.

 

[Bretho72]

they are essentially the same thing only with varying degrees of reverb, EQ and level shifting..!!

That’s exactly what I picked up with my own ears, at least I know my ears are working

 

[HomerJAU]

to spite my face but i feel so strongly over this, i am so disappointed, no i am incensed, i will cancel my subscription if this isn't nipped in the bud now

Maybe your protest should be aimed at the actual upmixes. That Is, stop listening to upmixes and filling the coffers of their rights holders.

 

[fredblue]

That’s exactly what I picked up with my own ears, at least I know my ears are working

your ears are working perfectly!

Warners are faking it, dismally.

i gave Fleetwood Mac's "Mirage" in Atmos a cursory listen late last night and i think its the real deal but i need to double check.

however pretty much everything else Warners have released lately in Atmos streaming that i tried appeared to be a load of upmixed fake nonsense

 

[fredblue]

Maybe your protest should be aimed at the actual upmixes. That Is, stop listening to upmixes and filling the coffers of their rights holders.

i take the point, however how do we know its an upmix until we play the track?

 

[fredblue]

i should add, i have nothing against upmixes in principle, they very much have their place in the absence of multitracks, etc.

however i do have a problem with Warners current practice of upmixing absolutely everything into fake Atmos.

 

[haikubass]

i should add, i have nothing against upmixes in principle, they very much have their place in the absence of multitracks, etc.

however i do have a problem with Warners current practice of upmixing absolutely everything into fake Atmos.

Why don't they just confess and label these 2022 upmixes? I even checked the credits with Tidal, nada. Listening to their selected tracks from Images & Words felt almost as a insult, as much as I still like the material a lot.

If Warners put DT 5.1 mixes for streaming, they would sound golden in comparison. Does the band even know?

 

[Bretho72]

You know that are upmixers because you see absolutely no mention of atmos mixed from the band, I’d love to know what Dream Theatre think about their music being butchered

 

[perzon57]

Yes I’m completely with you. The only good Atmos albums on Apple are the ones that come directly from a physical disc.
I’m actually starting to listen to my own 2 channel music upmixed with Dolby surround with centre spread on and it sounds much, much better than the upmixed Apple tracks.

I do not agree on your statement, #The only good Atmos albums on Apple are the ones that come directly from a physical disc.# Many of the best Atmos mixes on Apple Music are only on streaming, that's why I have it. Mixes from Tom Petty, Def Leppard, Grateful Dead, Tory Amos, Ozzy, William Orbit, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Five Finger Death Punch and Keith Urban are real good Atmos mixes not from disc. There ar several more too.

 

[Bretho72]

I do not agree on your statement, #The only good Atmos albums on Apple are the ones that come directly from a physical disc.# Many of the best Atmos mixes on Apple Music are only on streaming, that's why I have it. Mixes from Tom Petty, Def Leppard, Grateful Dead, Tory Amos, Ozzy, William Orbit, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Five Finger Death Punch and Keith Urban are real good Atmos mixes not from disc. There ar several more too.

Ok I take your point and thanks for correcting, I’m just frustrated that everything can’t be of a similar quality

 

[woody]

Maybe your protest should be aimed at the actual upmixes. That Is, stop listening to upmixes and filling the coffers of their rights holders.

That's what I'm doing. Note that it's a Warner's and steer clear.

Only other thing I can think of is as many members as possible barrage them with complaints or write to podcast producers asking them to publicize it (AVexcel for instance {www.AVexcel.com}- I note that they were asking a few episodes back for examples of good spatial audio, we can give them the insight on what is actually going on).

I too am majorly pissed off.

 

[Bretho72]

That's what I'm doing. Note that it's a Warner's and steer clear.

Only other thing I can think of is as many members as possible barrage them with complaints or write to podcast producers asking them to publicize it (AVexcel for instance {www.AVexcel.com}- I note that they were asking a few episodes back for examples of good spatial audio, we can give them the insight on what is actually going on).

I too am majorly pissed off.

I alerted Gene from audioholics about it and to read the comments on this forum, he was a big supporter of it when it first came out.